“Google has reached a landmark agreement with authors and publishers to make millions of books available online, in a deal that includes a $125m (£80m) payout and the end to lawsuits filed by companies including Penguin. The agreement, part of which is subject to the approval of the US District Court in New York, comes after two years of negotiations between the parties and will mark the end of two lawsuits against the Google Book Search tool.”
Tag: 10.28.08
£60M Gallery, Open Two Days In June, Remains Shuttered
“The Public Gallery in West Bromwich closed just two days after its grand opening in June because of technical problems with the high-tech art installations. The Will Alsop-designed arts centre cost £60m, nearly half what it cost to open Tate Modern in 2000. … The Public Gallery told us that it will reopen this month, although no date has been given.”
Task Force To Target A Scourge: Music-Fest Tent Thefts
“Tent thieves, it is time to tremble! No longer will British music festivals sit idly by as you nick tent poles, nab canvases or whisk lean-tos back to your lairs. The newly formed Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has announced its first initiative – a security taskforce that will target tent thefts and campsite crime at the country’s music shindigs.”
Indie Bookshops Disappear, Replaced By Circle Of Hell
Given the abysmal experience that awaits customers within the walls of chain booksellers, Charlotte Higgins wonders, how is it that “capitalism has not winnowed out such obviously unsatisfactory stores as Waterstone’s and Borders”?
Overlooked But Indispensable: Local Critics
“[W]hile arguments over things like the value of criticism and mainstream reviewers versus bloggers continue to rage, there is one group of writers who get consistently ignored – local critics. Yet given that most of our mainstream critics rarely travel beyond the M25, the coverage these local writers give to work happening all over the country plays a vital part in informing potential audiences what is out there.”
Publishers See $$$ In Economic Pain
“Except for high school musicals of ‘Annie’ and maybe a James Cagney film festival, Americans have done a great job of burying the Great Depression in the nation’s psyche. It took a financial collapse of today’s magnitude to reawaken the visions of that long, hard time of nearly 70 years ago. Publishers, naturally, are huffing and puffing to come up with the most appropriate new book to explain the current economic miseries.”
Playwright Daniel MacIvor Wins $100K Siminovitch Prize
“Daniel MacIvor, one of the most distinctive playwrights in Canada, was honoured for his unique voice yesterday when he was named winner of the 2008 Siminovitch Prize in Theatre. … The $100,000 award, the richest in Canadian theatre, has been given out annually since 2001, with a director, designer and playwright winning in successive years.”
Getty To Give $2.8 Million For Shows On LA’s Postwar Art
“The J. Paul Getty Trust is stepping up its support of projects that tell the story of post-World War II art in Los Angeles. The Getty Foundation, the philanthropic branch of the trust … is expected to announce an additional $2.8 million in grants to 15 Southern California institutions for a batch of 2011 exhibitions exploring the development of the local art scene, sources close to the Getty say.”
The Part Of The Rat Will Be Played By …
“Well, the most positive spin we can put on this bit of theater news is that Pasadena Playhouse is diversifying its audience: During Friday night’s opening performance of ‘The Lady With All The Answers,’ starring Mimi Kennedy as Ann Landers, some audience members noticed that a rat was in the house. Yes, a rat. A Vermin-American. Tiny paws, whiskers and a hairless tail.”
Classical Music World Prepares For Tough Times Ahead
“As it has everywhere else these days, the economic crisis has hit classical music, a particularly fragile corner of the nonprofit world that depends as much on donations as on ticket sales. Most managers are only in the fretting stage, but the plunge in stock prices, the credit squeeze and feelings of diminished wealth among donors and ticket buyers have begun to have concrete effects in a few places.”